Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
Norway has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut in 1960 and has only been absent twice since then. In 1970, the country boycotted the contest over disagreements about the voting structure, in 2002, they were relegated; the contest is broadcast in Norway by NRK, which broadcasts Norway's national selection competition, the Melodi Grand Prix. Before 1985, Norway's best result in the contest was Åse Kleveland's third place in 1966. Norway's three victories in the contest were achieved by Bobbysocks in 1985, Secret Garden in 1995 and Alexander Rybak in 2009. Norway finished second at the 1996 contest, with former Bobbysocks member Elisabeth Andreassen. Norway has the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in more Eurovision finals than any other country and for having the most "nul points", finishing last 11 times and failing to score a point four times. Norway has a total of 11 top five results in the contest. Norway's first entrant in the contest in 1960 was Nora Brockstedt.
Åse Kleveland finished third in 1966. Following Kleveland's result, Norway would fail to reach the top ten in 14 out of their next 15 attempts, the exception being Bendik Singers seventh place in 1973. Before 1985, Norway had only reached the top five in two out of 24 attempts and had finished last six times. In 1985, Bobbysocks gave the country its first victory with the song "La det swinge". Norway went on to achieve two more top five results over the next ten years, with both Karoline Krüger in 1988 and Silje Vige in 1993, finishing fifth. Norway's second victory came in 1995 with Secret Garden's instrumental, Celtic-influenced ethno-piece "Nocturne". In 1996, Elisabeth Andreassen, who had won the contest as one half of Bobbysocks, returned to finish second. In 2003, Jostein Hasselgård was fourth. Norway won for the third time in 2009, with Alexander Rybak's smash hit "Fairytale"; the 2009 winning score of 387 points being the highest winning total under the voting system used between 1975 and 2015.
It achieved the biggest margin of victory. In 2012, Norway finished last in the final for the 11th time. Norway has the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most "nul points" in the contest, failing to score a point four times, in 1963, 1978, 1981 and 1997. Austria has scored "nul points" four times. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Norway has finished in the top ten seven times. Wig Wam finished ninth with the song "In My Dreams" in 2005, Maria Haukaas Storeng was fifth in 2008 with "Hold On Be Strong", Alexander Rybak won in 2009, Margaret Berger was fourth in 2013 with "I Feed You My Love", Carl Espen finished eighth in 2014 performing "Silent Storm", Mørland & Debrah Scarlett finished eighth in 2015 with "A Monster Like Me", JOWST featuring Aleksander Walmann finished tenth with the song "Grab the Moment" in 2017. Norway has a total of 11 top 23 top ten results in the contest. Table key Notes As of 2018, Norway's voting history is as follows: Press Award Composer Award List of supervisors of Melodi Grand Prix, better known as MGP-general or GP-general in Norway: Per Sundnes Vivi Stenberg Jan Fredrik Karlsen Stig Karlsen Melodi Grand Prix Norway in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Norway in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21. Norway in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger. Melodi Grand Prix Points to and from Norway eurovisioncovers.co.uk
Un banc, un arbre, une rue
"Un banc, un arbre, une rue" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 performed in French by French singer Séverine, representing Monaco. The song is a classic French ballad, with the lyric focusing on the loss of childhood innocence, people following their dreams; the opening lines to the chorus translate as "We all have a bench, a tree, a street/Where we cherished our dreams/A childhood, too short". Four teenage male backup singers provided accompaniment. During Preview Week, Séverine sang the song in the empty square of Monte Carlo, first walking to a bench sitting down while performing the middle verses, ending the song by walking away out of camera focus; the song received the maximum score of 10 points from six voting nations. This song holds the record of receiving the most 10 point scores from this voting era. "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" was performed third on the night, following Malta's Joe Grech with "Marija l-Maltija" and preceding Switzerland's Peter, Sue & Marc with "Les illusions de nos vingt ans".
By the close of voting, it had received 128 points, placing it first in a field of 18. Séverine recorded the song in four languages. Despite the existence of an Anglophone version, however, it was the original French version which reached the UK Top 10, a rare non-Anglophone hit in that market; the song was succeeded as contest winner in 1972 by Vicky Leandros singing "Après toi" for Luxembourg. It was succeeded as the Monegasque representative at the 1972 Contest by Peter McLane and Anne-Marie Godart with "Comme on s'aime"; the melody was adapted and arranged in 1973 by Paul Mauriat as the theme tune for the Miss Hong Kong Pageant, hosted by Television Broadcasts Limited and has been familiar among generations of Hong Kong people since then. In that same year, Finnish singer Carola Standertskjöld recorded her version in Finnish, "Penkki, puu ja puistotie". Siw Malmkvist recorded a Swedish version 1971, "På en gammal bänk". Official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year, 1971 Detailed info and lyrics, The Diggiloo Thrush, "Un banc, un arbre, une rue"
Republic of Ireland
Ireland known as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, located on the eastern part of the island, whose metropolitan area is home to around a third of the country's over 4.8 million inhabitants. The sovereign state shares its only land border with a part of the United Kingdom, it is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east, the Irish Sea to the east. It is a parliamentary republic; the legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, an elected President who serves as the ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach, elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It had the status of Dominion until 1937 when a new constitution was adopted, in which the state was named "Ireland" and became a republic, with an elected non-executive president as head of state.
It was declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948. Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955, it joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, in 1973. The state had no formal relations with Northern Ireland for most of the twentieth century, but during the 1980s and 1990s the British and Irish governments worked with the Northern Ireland parties towards a resolution to "the Troubles". Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the Irish government and Northern Ireland Executive have co-operated on a number of policy areas under the North-South Ministerial Council created by the Agreement. Ireland ranks among the top twenty-five wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita, as the tenth most prosperous country in the world according to The Legatum Prosperity Index 2015. After joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth.
The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which became known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by an unprecedented financial crisis that began in 2008, in conjunction with the concurrent global economic crash. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index, it performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a founding member of the Council of Europe and the OECD; the Irish government has followed a policy of military neutrality through non-alignment since prior to World War II and the country is not a member of NATO, although it is a member of Partnership for Peace. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was "styled and known as the Irish Free State".
The Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that "the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland". Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, "It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland." The 1948 Act does not name the state as "Republic of Ireland", because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name "Eire" and, from 1949, "Republic of Ireland", for the state; as well as "Ireland", "Éire" or "the Republic of Ireland", the state is referred to as "the Republic", "Southern Ireland" or "the South". In an Irish republican context it is referred to as "the Free State" or "the 26 Counties". From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, the island of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. During the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the island's population of over 8 million fell by 30%. One million Irish died of starvation and/or disease and another 1.5 million emigrated to the United States.
This set the pattern of emigration for the century to come, resulting in constant population decline up to the 1960s. From 1874, under Charles Stewart Parnell from 1880, the Irish Parliamentary Party gained prominence; this was firstly through widespread agrarian agitation via the Irish Land League, that won land reforms for tenants in the form of the Irish Land Acts, secondly through its attempts to achieve Home Rule, via two unsuccessful bills which would have granted Ireland limited national autonomy. These led to "grass-roots" control of national affairs, under the Local Government Act 1898, in the hands of landlord-dominated grand juries of the Protestant Ascendancy. Home Rule seemed certain when the Parliament Act 1911 abolished the veto of the House of Lords, John Redmond secured the Third Home Rule Act in 1914. However, the Unionist movement had been growing since 1886 among Irish Protestants after the introduction of the first home rule bill, fearing discrimination and loss of economic and social privileges if Irish Catholics achieved real political power
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. It is on the east coast of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, at the mouth of the River Liffey, is bordered on the south by the Wicklow Mountains, it has an urban area population of 1,173,179, while the population of the Dublin Region, as of 2016, was 1,347,359, the population of the Greater Dublin area was 1,904,806. There is archaeological debate regarding where Dublin was established by the Gaels in or before the 7th century AD. Expanded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin, the city became Ireland's principal settlement following the Norman invasion; the city expanded from the 17th century and was the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State renamed Ireland. Dublin is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts and industry; as of 2018 the city was listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha −", which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world.
The name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, from dubh meaning "black, dark", lind "pool", referring to a dark tidal pool. This tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, Irish rhymes from County Dublin show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn; the original pronunciation is preserved in the names for the city in other languages such as Old English Difelin, Old Norse Dyflin, modern Icelandic Dyflinn and modern Manx Divlyn as well as Welsh Dulyn. Other localities in Ireland bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin and Difflin. Scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b, rendering Duḃlinn or Duiḃlinn; those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh, part of Loch Linnhe.
It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, from which Dyflin took its name. Beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements; the Viking settlement of about 841, a Gaelic settlement, Áth Cliath further up river, at the present day Father Mathew Bridge, at the bottom of Church Street. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of the hurdled ford", is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a place name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street occupied by Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church. There are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Anglicised as Hurlford; the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times, but the writings of Ptolemy in about AD 140 provide the earliest reference to a settlement there.
He called it Eblana polis. Dublin celebrated its'official' millennium in 1988, meaning the Irish government recognised 988 as the year in which the city was settled and that this first settlement would become the city of Dublin, it is now thought the Viking settlement of about 841 was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, from which Dyflin took its name. Beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements which became the modern Dublin; the subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay. The Dubhlinn was a pool on the lowest stretch of the Poddle, used to moor ships; this pool was fully infilled during the early 18th century, as the city grew. The Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library within Dublin Castle. Táin Bó Cuailgne refers to Dublind rissa ratter Áth Cliath, meaning "Dublin, called Ath Cliath". Dublin was established as a Viking settlement in the 10th century and, despite a number of attacks by the native Irish, it remained under Viking control until the Norman invasion of Ireland was launched from Wales in 1169.
It was upon the death of Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn in early 1166 that Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht, proceeded to Dublin and was inaugurated King of Ireland without opposition. According to some historians, part of the city's early economic growth is attributed to a trade in slaves. Slavery in Ireland and Dublin reached its pinnacle in the 10th centuries. Prisoners from slave raids and kidnappings, which captured men and children, brought revenue to the Gaelic Irish Sea raiders, as well as to the Vikings who had initiated the practice; the victims came from Wales, England and beyond. The King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, after his exile by Ruaidhrí, enlisted the help of Strongbow, the Earl of Pembroke, to conquer Dublin. Following Mac Murrough's death, Strongbow declared himself King of Leinster after gaining control of the city. In response to Strongbow's successful invasion, King Henry II of England affirmed his ultimate sovereignty by mou
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 50 times since its debut at the 1964 contest. Since it has missed five contests; the contest is broadcast in Portugal by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Portugal hosted the 2018 contest in Lisbon. Portugal finished last on its debut in 1964 and again in 1974, before achieving its best result of the 20th century in 1996, with Lúcia Moniz finishing sixth; the country finished last for the third time in 1997. Having not appeared in the final since 2010 and as holders of the record for most appearances in the contest without a win, Portugal won at the 49th attempt, when Salvador Sobral won the 2017 contest with the song "Amar Pelos Dois", Portugal's first top five result in the contest; as hosts in 2018, the country finished last in the contest for the fourth time. Portugal's debut entry was António Calvário with "Oração", it was not a successful debut for the country, with Calvário coming last in the contest. Since Portugal has come last on three further occasions, in 1974, when Paulo de Carvalho sang "E depois do adeus", in 1997, when Célia Lawson performed "Antes do adeus" and in 2018 as a host country.
Despite its last-place finish in the contest, "E depois do adeus" gained notability for being used as the radio musical signal to begin the Carnation Revolution against the Estado Novo regime, being played at 22:55 on the 24th of April, 1974. Prior to their sixth-place finish for Lúcia Moniz, with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" in 1996, Portugal's best result in the contest was two seventh-place finishes, for Carlos Mendes in 1972 and José Cid in 1980. Despite having some weak results, the 90s were the most successful decade for the country, reaching the top 10 four times. Portugal refused, its place was taken by Latvia both times. Since semi-finals were introduced in 2004, Portugal has failed to reach the final eight times, including from 2004 to 2007. In 2008, Vânia Fernandes finished 13th with the song "Senhora do Mar," Portugal's best outcome since 1996; the country continued to be present in the final until 2010. In 2017, Portugal reached the finals with Salvador Sobral's entry, "Amar pelos dois", ending a 6-year non-appearance in the finals, as it did not participate in the contest in 2013 and 2016 and did not qualify for the finals in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015 winning the contest for the first time earning 758 points, setting the record for the highest number of points in the history of the competition, topping both the televoting and jury voting for the first time since Austria's "Rise Like a Phoenix" in 2014.
It was the first winning song performed in a country's native language since Serbia's "Molitva" in 2007. In 2018, as a host country, Portugal came last for the fourth time in the contest, for the first time in a non-joint last position; this was the third instance of a host country coming in the bottom 5 since 2015. Portugal has been absent from five contests since their first participation; the country's first absence was in 1970, where Portugal, along with four other countries, boycotted the contest due to the result of the previous year, when four countries were announced the winner. Portugal missed the 2000 contest due to their poor average results over the past five years. Despite being eligible to enter the 2002 contest, RTP declined to enter, was replaced by eventual winner Latvia; the fourth absence was in 2013. The fifth absence was in 2016. RTP mentioned that this break was needed, so that the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest had its contents renewed. In three of these five years when Portugal was absent, the contest was held in Sweden.
Festival da Canção is the Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by RTP, is held in February/March of the year of the contest. It is one of the longest-running Eurovision selection methods. A number of regional juries selected the winner, however the winner has been selected through televoting. In 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018 and 2019 a 50-50 system between district juries and televote has been used. In the years when Portugal does not participate in the contest, the Festival da Canção was not held, except in two occasions: in 1970, when Portugal boycotted the contest, in 2000. Table key NOTES As of 2018, Portugal's voting history is as follows: Press Award Artistic Award Composer Award All conductors are Portuguese except those marked with a flag. In the late 1990s the English actor and comedian Steve Coogan created the character "Tony Ferrino" for his television comedy series. "Tony Ferrino" is a Portuguese singer and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. The BBC produced a one-off programme The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon in 1997.
Portugal in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest. Portugal in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest. Portugal in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21. Portugal in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger. Points to and from Portugal eurovisioncovers.co.uk
Gaiety Theatre, Dublin
The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green, it specialises with occasional dramatic shows. Designed by architect C. J. Phipps and built in under 7 months, the Gaiety was opened on 27 November 1871 with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as guest of honour and a double bill of the comedy She Stoops to Conquer and a burlesque version of La Belle Sauvage; the Gaiety was extended by theatre architect Frank Matcham in 1883, despite several improvements to public spaces and stage changes, it retains several Victorian era features and remains Dublin's longest-established, continuously producing theatre. Patrick Wall and Louis Elliman bought the theatre in 1936 and ran it for several decades with local actors and actresses, they sold it in 1965, in the 1960s and the 1970s the theatre was run by Fred O'Donovan and the Eamonn Andrews Studios, until - in the 1980s - Joe Dowling became director of the Gaiety. In the 1990s Groundwork Productions took on the lease and the theatre was bought by the Break for the Border Group.
The Gaiety was purchased by music promoters MCD in the late 1990s. The new owners undertook a refit of the theatre, with the Department of Arts and Tourism contributing to the restoration fund. Performers and playwrights associated with the theatre have been celebrated with hand-prints cast in bronze and set in the pavement beneath the theatre canopy; these handprints include those of Luciano Pavarotti, Brendan Grace, Maureen Potter, John B Keane, Anna Manahan, Niall Toibin and Brian Friel. The theatre played host to the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, the first to be staged in Ireland, during the Gaiety's centenary year. Clodagh Rodgers presented her RTÉ TV series The Clodagh Rodgers Show from the theatre in the late 1970s; the Gaiety is known for its annual Christmas pantomime and has hosted a pantomime every year since 1874. Actor and director Alan Stanford directed both Gaiety productions of Sleeping Beauty. Irish entertainer June Rodgers starred in the Gaiety pantomime for years, until she began to headline the established Olympia Theatre panto.
The Gaiety shows have included Irish performers that appeal to home grown audiences, including a number of Fair City actors. Pantomimes in the 21st century have included versions of: Mother Goose and the Beast, Cinderella and the Beanstalk, Robinson Crusoe, Peter Pan and Red Riding Hood. Official Gaiety Theatre website Gaiety Theatre Scrapbook, 1913-1937 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Special Collections Research Center Souvenir of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the opening of the Gaiety Theatre: 27 November 1871. Digital Library@Villanova University
Malta
Monaco
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Austria - Robert Opratko
Malta - Twanny Chircop
Monaco - Jean-Claude Petit
Switzerland - Hardy Schneiders
Germany - Dieter Zimmermann
Spain - Waldo de los Rios
France - Franck Pourcel
Luxembourg - Jean Claudric
United Kingdom - Johnny Arthey
Belgium - Francis Bay
Italy - Enrico Polito
Sweden - Claes Rosendahl
Ireland - Noel Kelehan
Netherlands - Dolf van der Linden
Portugal - Jorge Costa Pinto
Yugoslavia - Miljenko Prohaska
Finland - Ossi Runne
Norway - Arne Bendiksen
Austria
Switzerland
Germany
Spain
France
Luxembourg
United Kingdom
Belgium
Italy
Sweden
Ireland
Netherlands
Portugal
Yugoslavia
Finland
Norway
Greece
Iceland
United States
